Demaryius Thomas thinks some Broncos teammates underestimated Colts

PHOENIX — Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has had time to let his balky ankle heal and let his ego soothe after losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs as he did some promotional work this week at the site of the Super Bowl.

But there are still a lot of fascinating unknowns in the life of Thomas, a free agent for the first time this offseason.

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Will the Broncos place the franchise tag on him? Can they get a long-term extension done before (or after) that? Will Peyton Manning be back? What will new head coach Gary Kubiak be like for the Broncos? And will friend Julius Thomas, also a free agent, return to the team?

All that, and yet Demaryius Thomas can't help but wonder how the Broncos' season — so promising to start and Super Bowl expectations remaining strong — got off track. He wonders if the Broncos might have dismissed their playoff opponent a little easily before the game.

"I don’t want to say this, but I feel like some guys took it for granted that we’d run over the Colts when they came in here," Thomas told Shutdown Corner. "But it just wasn’t our day."

Thomas acknowledges that Manning's quad injury, plus injuries to linebackers Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall and others, set the Broncos a bit off course. So did the sea change of the offensive identity, when the Broncos became more of a run-centric operation down the stretch.

"We don’t ever want to put any one thing on it and say that was the reason we came up short," Thomas said. "We had injuries here and there. I don’t know how injured everyone was. Peyton was injured a little.

"We also changed our identity a little bit, started running a little more, and I don’t think we were used to it. We should have been able to do it, so I can’t say it was just that."

One day after the 24-13 loss to the Colts, the Broncos and John Fox — who had won 38 games combined the past three years — announced they were parting ways. Thomas, for one, was stunned.

"It’s very tough because no one expected it. I for sure didn’t expect it," Thomas said. "Seeing it the next day, I was shocked. I talked to a couple guys, and they were shocked too. I thought after going to the Super Bowl, we came up short this year, but I thought he’d be around at least another year. It’s what happens in the NFL, I guess.

"I will say I’ll miss Coach Fox. He’s one of the best. But it’s a business."

Thomas also praised former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who will be joining Fox in that same capacity with the Chicago Bears.

"Man, I’ve been with him my whole career," Thomas said. "He was my receivers coach, and then he became my offensive coordinator. Very smart guy. He knows a lot of what he’s doing. I wished him the best of luck. I can’t really say much about him other than he’s a great guy. He was really good at coaching receivers, too, and he was a good offensive coordinator.

"He always stayed aggressive, trying to put up as many points as we [could], and he and Peyton always were talking about how to do things. He's a great coach."

As for Manning, we continue to wait for his decision on whether he'll play in 2015. Manning was also in town Friday and spoke about what lies ahead for him, but Thomas is giving him his space. He said he's going to let Manning heal up, clear his head and make a decision before they chat about what his plans are for next season.

"He’s been doing this for a long time. I’d rather let him contact us — or me — and I’ll reach out to him after the month of February once football is over with and he’s had enough time to get away and let his mind relax a bit," Thomas said. "I don’t want to go at him like, ‘Are you going to come back?’ He’ll let us know if he will or he won’t."

And if Manning hangs it up and the Broncos have to turn things over to Brock Osweiler? Thomas says Osweiler will be ready.

"I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Brock," Thomas said. "He hasn’t been around the best quarterback in the game the past two years for nothing. As the years go on, he builds and builds and is more confident. You see him against our first-team defense during the season, and they’ll be going hard, and he’s out there calm and collected. I think he’ll be fine."

Thomas did run into tight end Julius Thomas twice this week in Arizona, but they did not talk shop. Both men are free-agents-to-be and are expected to cash in one way or another. It's possible that the Broncos might not be able to afford both Thomases considering how much money the wide receiver, Manning, and all the team's free-agent additions will count for against the team's salary cap this coming season.

As for his own situation and whether he'll be franchised, Demaryius Thomas isn't fretting, speculating or guessing. It's not worth it to him, and Thomas says he's excited for his impending free agency — no matter how it ends up.

"I don’t really know right now," he said. "It’s very exciting to say that I went through five years, I did my part, stayed healthy and was able to put up good numbers. Now, I can’t say it bothers me because I am blessed. I am going to let Elway and those guys, my agent [Todd France] and everyone work it out. I am sure they will get something done and we’ll be back at it again.

" I can’t let that bother me because I am still more stressed about losing and not getting back to the Super Bowl. If I let [my contract] bother me, it would hang over everything. I don’t want to be angry at other people for no reason. I am just going to let it go, go work out, wait and relax and get back for next season."

If he does return next season, Thomas will be playing for Kubiak, a Denver fixture from the past and a close compadre of Elway's. Thomas spoke to Kubiak for the first time on Thursday and came away happy with the message he heard from his potential new coach.

"He had a couple good guys and they always had great numbers," Thomas said. "They always have a great running game, which you need now — you need that balance. I am very excited. He said, ‘We are going to get you the ball.’ You want to hear that from a coach.

"My main thing is I want to get a Super Bowl ring. Everybody is excited to be around him."

Thomas said he'll spend the first part of the offseason rehabbing his ankle, working out some lingering scar tissue from his former Achilles tear, and should be "100 percent" ready to go by OTAs. He also wants to do more resistance-band and sled work to add "a little more explosion" to his game.

Additionally, is doing his best to get his mind off football for a while. One way he's doing that is by participating in the "Courtyard Camera" series with Courtyard Hotels, filming a series of amusing and entertaining videos with his old Broncos buddy Eric Decker where they give away tickets and other prizes to unsuspecting fans .. while trying  to remain incognito.

Entertaining stuff for a player who is entering a fascinating offseason — for Thomas and his Broncos team.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm